blue sugar
by Damned Elize
Summary: [adventures] look around your world, pretty baby, is it everything you hoped it would be?


_well. . . why not? exploring gender roles and sexual politics through slighty fucked fanfiction. _

x

_**chapter i**_

_look around your world, pretty baby, is it everything you hoped it would be?_

x

Falco stuck his tongue out, crossing his eyes and twirling his index finger in circles near the side of his head. "I leave you guys alone for a few years and when I get back you've picked up that fucking queer?" he clarified, thumbing in the direction Krystal had gone. Fox shrugged helplessly, scratching the back of his head. Falco had walked into the situation at a rather awkward moment, and Fox was not eager to elaborate.

"I wasn't going to leave someone who needed help," he replied, raising his palms up.

"Falco, Fox is right. Just because you don't approve, doesn't mean we should we can just ignore someone who needs our help. Krystal's a victim of Andross, too," Peppy spoke up, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"He's got fucking beads in his hair! He's wearing a god damn loin cloth!" Falco squawked, feathers raising on his head.

Fox crossed his arms, sighing. "He's not native to Lylat, Falco. Who knows what his culture is like? We really don't know anything about him at this point, but he did try to help Sauria. I think we should at least give him the benefit of the doubt."

Falco rolled his eyes. "_Right._ Let him wander around the Great Fox unattended. Good idea, Foxie. _Smart_."

"Falco, if he wanted to do something, he probably would've done it by now," Fox ran a paw through the shaggy blonde fluff atop his head. Their newcomer was a bit odd, and Fox couldn't help but admit that Krystal made him nervous too, but he also reminded himself to keep an open mind about things.

"So what are we going to do with him?" Falco asked, tapping his boot against the floor. He'd finally made the decision to rejoin the team, and was hoping to settle back into his old quarters, raid the fridge, maybe challenge Fox to a game of Street Fighter or two, antagonize Slippy a bit. The last thing he wanted to walk into was another fight with a giant floating monkey head and a creepy blue alien queer.

Fox sighed again, looking to Peppy, who pulled at the corner of his lip slightly, trying to encourage Fox to come to his own conclusions. The tod's eyes skipped over to Slippy, who simply shrugged, deciding to stay neutral for the time being. Running a paw down his cheek to rest on under his chin, Fox turned back to Falco, the avian still tapping his foot with impatience.

"We'll. . . just keep him here for now," Fox announced after a beat, choosing not to comment on Falco's annoyed scoff. "That ship he flew in on doesn't look like it'll last the ride back to wherever he came from, and if he docked with us, I doubt he wants to stay on Sauria. I guess for now, the only thing we can do is take him with us. Who knows, maybe he'll be of use to us."

Falco smirked, making a rude gesture involving pressing his tongue into his cheek while bobbing his head.

Sighing, Fox threw his arms up, knowing once Falco had made up his mind there was nothing anyone could to do change it. Wanting to put some space between he and his apprehensive friend, Fox decided to check on Krystal, knowing that the kid was probably just as uneasy, being in such a strange, new place. He glanced to Peppy, who gave him a small, sympathetic look, head jerking slightly in Falco's direction, indicating that he would have a talk with him. Fox nodded once, turning on heel.

x

Fox blew a hiss of air out of his muzzle, paw poised just above the surface of the door, pausing. After a short round of introductions, Krystal had requested bathroom facilities, leaving the reunited team to discuss present events. He'd instructed the other fox on where the closest empty quarters was, and Krystal had promptly excused himself. Although he felt somewhat bad about it, Fox had been relieved when the blue tod had left, and wasn't real keen on initiating more contact. Still, it wasn't Krystal's fault he'd been caught up in the plight of Sauria, and being native to parts elsewhere, had no clue how odd he appeared to be the everyone else. Krystal had this unnerving, unshakable calmness about him, his bright eyes betraying that he knew more than he lead on. Fox didn't like being jerked around, and tried to chalk it up to his over active imagination, which, despite his age, he'd still not been able to get under control.

He finally shook his head, forcing his paw against the door, knocking. Krystal was simply a lost kid, and Fox was determined to help him. And if it turned out he'd be stuck here in Lylat, he'd need all the help he could get settling in. Fox took a small step back as the door slid open smoothly, revealing the slightly taller fox.

"Fox," Krystal greeted, trying to look more surprised than he felt. He'd felt Fox's presence outside his door, hesitating and full of worry, but he'd stopped himself from opening the door and inviting the red tod in, lest he be spooked. A quick scan of Fox's mind earlier revealed that beings like him didn't possess telepathic gifts. In fact, they seemed to value their own, separate private thoughts, and Krystal attempted to control himself, not wishing to intrude. It was a bit of a challenge for him, since he was used to allowing access to his mind, and being granted the same from others. The absence of others' presence in his mind left him feeling awkward and lonely. Still, he was determined not to betray the trust the others were placing in him; he already gotten the feeling the he wasn't wanted earlier, and had excused himself to allow the others time to adjust.

Fox hesitated for a moment, scratching the back of his head, needing to do occupy his paws. He was feeling nervous again, embarrassed, now not knowing what to say. The blue tod stood silently and patiently before him, still dressed in a small loin cloth, his upper body mostly bare, save for some elaborately ornamented jewelry and shoulder armor, which connected together with a clasp across his chest in a bizarre bra-like apparatus. Chewing on his lip, Fox looked away, spying Krystal's staff leaning against the wall, glowing faintly.

"Um," he started finally, pausing, swallowing, finally beginning again. "You-- do you have any place to go to? A home or a mothership?"

A sad look passed across Krystal's face, and he placed a paw on his chest, looking away. "No. . . not anymore. Cerinia, my home, has become completely unhabitable. I am one of the few who survived, but. . . there's nothing left. The small ship I came here in is all I've got," Krystal explained, his free paw coming up to rest atop one of the metal plates on his chest.

Fox's face heated, abruptly feeling like an idiot for bringing it up. He ran a paw through his short mohawk, fumbling for an apology. "Shit, I'm sorry. . ."

Krystal smiled sadly, dropping his arms. "It's okay, you couldn't have known."

An awkward silence followed, Fox tapping his fingers against his pants rapidly, Krystal inspecting his nails, trying not to give into his wailing desire to probe the red fox's mind. Slightly braver, Krystal looked over to Fox, the tod glancing up slightly when he felt eyes on him, smiling nervously and looking away. He cleared his throat, finally speaking again.

"I guess... I guess when can take you into Inner Lylat with us... If you have no where to go, we'll do our best to help you get acquainted with our system. You can always figure out what you'd like to do after things have settled down..." Fox trailed off, but Krystal sensed he wanted to say something more, and used all of his will power not to delve into Fox's thoughts. He wanted to be trusted, he wanted to be liked. Most of all, he wanted Fox and others to be comfortable in his presence. He didn't pry, and allowed Fox to control the conversation at his leisure.

"You, um... you might want to change, first," Fox finally spoke, nibbling on his lower lip. Krystal blinked, looking down at his clothes, casual as they were, and cocked his head to the side, spying Fox again. "What's wrong?"

Fox blushed, trying to maintain his composure. "Well, for one thing, it's a little revealing. Not only that, but, ah... It's rather feminine, don't you think?"

Krystal raised an eyebrow, looking down to his clothes again. "Feminine?"

Fox denied his throat the right to scream. Or his teeth to grind. This was going to be harder than he thought. "Well, yeah. In Lylat, what you're wearing... Well, to but it bluntly, is something only a woman would wear."

"I see," Krystal frowned, slightly surprised. "We don. . . didn't have such strict gender confines where I come from. Any person was free to be as they wished, without fear of crossing such lines. We only judged a person based on the strength of their character, not on superficial features like gender expectations or appearance."

"Ah," Fox replied astutely. "Um, well, here we do. It's not as bad as you'd think. For the most part, everyone is treated equally and fairly, but we do make vast distinctions between genders."

"Like what?" Krystal asked, eager to learn. It was odd being taught this way; on Cerinia he would've simply searched out one who knew the information he wished to attain, allowing the knowledge to pass into him via telepathy. It was a quick and simple way to gather information, and although this way was kind of clumsy and slow, Krystal remained faithful to his decision not to invade the protected minds of these creatures.

"Well, names for one thing. By Lylat's standards, your name is considered female."

Krystal blinked, raising an eyebrow. "You have gender specific names?" Fox nodded, and Krystal quickly made an amendment to his decision, allowing a small flash of Fox's mind to eke into his own. "Well, you may call me 'Krys,' if you like," he said, green-blue eyes narrowing slightly as he smiled. "It is considered an acceptable male name in your culture, right?"

"Ah, yeah," Fox replied, still slightly uncomfortable. It was hard to know where to stand with the blue tod. Upon first hearing the soft alto in his head, Fox had thought Krystal a woman, even commenting on "her" beauty as "she" stood frozen and trapped in a crystal prison. It was only when they'd met properly, after Krystal had been freed that upon the closer inspection, Fox realized the one he'd rescued was a male. He'd been too preoccupied with Andross at that moment to feel too embarrassed, but when Krystal had appeared on the Great Fox, hips swaying, Peppy and Slippy had made the same mistake and the awkwardness had gotten worse.

"Fox?" Krystal asked, forehead pinched in worry.

"Um, yeah?" Fox mumbled, trying to stay in the present.

"What..." Krystal trailed off for a second, biting his lip in distress. "Um... what happens next?

Fox felt himself soften again, guilty about feeling so weird around the poor tod as he once again showed his youth. No matter how odd he seemed, he was still a lost kid. It wasn't his fault he made the team feel a little awkward. How could he possibly know?

"I don't know, Krys. But we'll think of something, don't worry."

Krystal nodded, smiling softly.

x

"I still say we should dump his ass out the air lock, pronto," Falco muttered as soon as Fox had made his exit. He didn't trust the blue fox, and sure as hell didn't want the alien creepazoid nosing around his home. Especially on the exact day he'd chosen to make his illustrious return.

"Have some compassion, my good raptor," Peppy chuckled, giving Falco a reassuring pat on his shoulder. "The kid's probably a little frightened. We probably look just as weird to him as he does to us." Peppy paused a moment, eying the avian's unreadable reflection in the glass, choosing his words carefully. Krystal may have been a bit unusual, but he seemed like a good, charming kid, and Peppy wasn't one to turn away someone in need of help. He felt sorry for the tod, being possibly lost and far from his home, caught up in a fight that wasn't his. The last thing he'd need now was to be shunned and treated cruelly by his rescuers. "Give him a chance, hm, Falco?" Peppy finally said, giving Falco's shoulder a squeeze. He released the falcon, stepping back to give him space. Falco sighed after a moment, shoulders slumping.

". . . fine," he finally mumbled, shaking his head. "Do whatever the hell you guys want. I'll be civil to the creep for now, but the moment he does something fucked up or suspicious he's getting a boot in the gut.."

Peppy glanced towards Slippy, who shrugged, not really having an opinion on the matter. After things like giant screaming monkey heads and floating planet pieces that somehow still retained atmosphere, a boy running around in a bra and loin cloth didn't seem as weird.

Satisfied for the moment, Peppy nodded again, leaving Falco to his thoughts and returning to his chair. He tried to busy himself with cleaning up his desk, wrapping his maps up and putting them away for future reference. He too was still curious about the newcomer, but knew Fox had grown into a strong, kind, and capable adult, and surely would treat Krystal with respect and hopefully make him feel at ease. Until the two returned to the bridge, the hare wasn't going to be eager to pry.

He turned his chair to look through one of the port side windows, smiling faintly as he laced long fingers in his lap. If anything, at least things around here would become interesting again.

x

x

_expect somewhat slow updates._


End file.
